TODSS calls for urgent review of Road Traffic Act, urges operators to contest tickets in court
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Transport Operators Development Sustainable Service (TODSS) is calling for an immediate review of the Road Traffic and Transport Authority Act, arguing that key provisions of the legislation are unfairly affecting public transport operators and threatening the viability of the sector.
The organisation is also urging transport operators to boycott all planned traffic ticket days and instead utilise the courts to clear up outstanding traffic tickets until a comprehensive review of the legislation is undertaken.
In a statement issued Wednesday, TODSS said the current legislative framework is doing “more harm than good” to the public transportation sector.
TODSS argued that the existence of two separate pieces of legislation governing public transportation has created an unjust system that is undermining the industry.
The group contended that the laws are working “to demolish the sector and to turn the over 40,000 workers in the sector into hardened criminals”.
While acknowledging that the demerit point system was introduced with the intention of removing dangerous drivers from the nation’s roads, TODSS maintained that the current application of the system requires urgent review.
Describing the existing demerit point regime as “a weapon of mass destruction” against public transport operators, the organisation argued that many drivers are accumulating points for non-moving offences rather than dangerous driving.
“Majority of tickets received by transport operators are for non-movable offences which means that the operator gets the ticket for stopping at the wrong place but is there a right place to stop? Especially in the KMTR (Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region),” it said.
TODSS stressed that despite the good intentions of the demerit point system, which works to weed out dangerous drivers, the present points application system must be reviewed.
“If the present system and Act remain as is, come October 1, 2026, the transport sector will see a loss of over 8,000 workers in three months,” the organisation added.
